Ireland's financial crisis is reportedly pushing 1,000 Irish citizens to leave the country every week. Corbis

February 25, 2011

ADVERTISEMENT

Irish voters go to the polls today for a general election — but new evidence suggests that much of the electorate may not stick around for long. The severe financial crisis in Ireland is spurring a wave of emigration that threatens to decimate the country's population. Here, a look at the numbers behind Ireland's exodus:

13.4 percent The current unemployment rate in Ireland

32 percentIreland's budget deficit as a percentage of GDP (approximately $227 billion). By comparison, the U.S. deficit this year stands at about 9 percent of its GDP.

$15 billionSavings the Irish government hopes to make over the next four years, mainly by cutting state pensions and benefits, and raising taxes

100,000The number of Irish citizens expected to leave the country in the next two years

1,000 The number of Irish citizens currently leaving the country every week. Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who is set to become Ireland's next prime minister, called the figure a "national heartbreak."

500The number of Irish emigrants who returned home every week in 2002, at the height of the "Celtic Tiger" boom

60 percentThe rise this year in visa applications by Irish citizens to Australia

30,000Number of Irish citizens currently in Australia on a two-year "holiday" visa

44,000The number of Irish citizens who left the country during the recession of 1989

320,000 The number of Irish citizens who left the country in the ten years after WWII

1 millionThe number of Irish citizens who left the country in the ten years after the potato famine of the 1850s

8.17 millionPopulation of Ireland in 1841

4.22 millionPopulation of Ireland in 1926, the lowest point in the last 170 years

4.47 millionCurrent population of Ireland

41 millionNumber of Americans who claim "Irish" as their primary ethnicity, according to the 2000 U.S. census

80 millionApproximate number of people around the world who claim Irish descent. This block of people is affectionately known in Ireland as the "Fifth Province."